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ABOUT THE BOOK

Once there were three beautiful sisters at Blue Gate House. And then there were two. Roxanne Cole’s death tore the center out of the Cole family, and for the last year Mae hasn’t been able to breathe. Everyone wants to forget Ro, but Mae can’t let her go. No one knows what really happened on the shores of the beach where Ro’s body was found, but her boyfriend, Cage, took off that night and hasn’t been seen since. Until now.

One year—almost to the day—from her death, he knocks on the door of Blue Gate House and asks where she is. According to him, he last saw her only the day before.

Everyone is sure Cage is a killer. But Mae sees something else. She sees heartbreak. And something more: someone who might be able to help her figure out what exactly happened the night her sister died. Searching for the truth can be dangerous, though. And when you live in a place like Blue Gate House, you’re likely to find that the past isn’t where you want to look for answers. Ghosts are never happy to give up their secrets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

TARA GOEDJEN grew up in the South and has a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Alabama. The Breathless is her debut novel. To find out more about Tara, follow @TaraGoedjen on Twitter.

BOOK REVIEW

Overall: The Breathless is a non-linear gothic horror told in multiple points of view, steeped in creepy houses, spirits, love, loss, sisterhood. Mae is heartbroken over the loss of her sister, Ro, and Cage, the prime suspect in her death, returns with amnesia–the premise of this book is pressure cooker of tension and intrigue. Mix in a love triangle and some good old-fashioned summoning and you’ve got yourself The Breathless. But even with all these elements, I couldn’t get into it. I wanted to. I loved Goedjen’s writing style, but the story itself wasn’t for me. I feel like I must caveat this review and let you all know this–suspense/thrillers are not my thing. Even when everything is not clear to me and I am a bit surprised how things play out (I really wasn’t expecting the twists thrown my way), I have a hard time connecting with these sorts of novels. Oftentimes, I believe that there is more care in the twists and turns and intentional creepiness than there is in character development and story. If you enjoy mystery/thrillers, I urge you to try this one out. Finally, if you are looking for any comments on representation in this novel, I urge you all to read this review, which carefully addresses points of slave/master relationship of the spirits in this book.

Judge a Book by its Cover: The cover is October spooky perfection AND I AM HERE FOR THIS GIF OF IT!

Bizarre Love Triangle: I couldn’t help but wondering, are both love interests only into Mae because she looks like her sister?

GIVEAWAY

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THE BREATHLESS by Tara Goedjen releases on October 10, 2017, 368 pages